The present invention relates to a spring lath for the underlying upholstery on sitting or reclining furniture. The underlying upholstery surface is subdivided into partial surfaces by way of spring elements placed upon the latter and also comprises an upholstery layer, and the spring lath has at least one rail body that is open on the bottom side and features on both sides end pieces that are to be fastened to the sitting or reclining furniture, in particular to the lath grid of a bed.
Sitting or reclining furniture, in particular beds, feature upholstery surfaces that are comprised of upholstery layers (mattresses, etc.), which, in turn, are placed on an underlying upholstery. Lath grids are used normally as underlying upholstery pieces. If a physiological resting position of the body is to be achieved, by way of its underlying upholstery, the bedding system should allow for sufficient lowering in the shoulder and the pelvic areas of the user thus making it possible for the user's spine to be essentially stretched out in its supine as well as side positions. For this purpose, the lath work structures of sitting or reclining furniture, in particular the lath grids of beds that are to be viewed as lath work structures, feature laths realized in the form of spring laths between the lengthwise guide rails, which are arranged crosswise and receive the upholstery layer. On both ends, the lath heads feature end pieces allowing them to be fastened in place on the lath work structure and/or the lengthwise guide rails and that can—for the purpose of improving the resting comfort—also be subdivided and connected to one another by way of joints in order to be able to raise the head part or the foot part separately.
In order to improve the resting comfort further, EP 0401712 (corresponding to Ottiger et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,799) and EP 0653174 (corresponding to Fromme U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,165) propose that the sitting or reclining surface be subdivided not only via spring laths in the lengthwise direction but also via spring elements in the crosswise direction, thus resulting in a resting surface that is subdivided into multiple surfaces. Due to the special spring design, upholstery systems of this kind allow for the use of (relatively) thin and, therefore, also light upholstery layers without compromising comfort. EP-0 401 712 correspondingly provides for the use of inflexible laths realized as U-profiles with upright standing flanges that receive the spring elements and restrict their lift action.
As shown in FIG. 6, German (UM) No. 297 21 656.2 introduced a spring lath 15 to the art intended to form an upholstery surface in such a way that a number of said spring laths 15 are arranged running parallel relative to one another in the lath work structure of a piece of sitting or reclining furniture, in particular distributed across the length between the two lengthwise guide rails 13, 14 of a lath grid of a bed. A number of spring elements 20 are arranged in splits and rows on these spring elements, forming an essentially even pattern for supporting a mattress 10. This spring lath is comprised of a plastic rail with an essentially U-shaped cross section defined by two legs 16. The lath heads 15.1 are realized as end pieces that allow for fastening the lath on the lath work structure of the sitting or reclining furniture and/or the lengthwise guide rails 13, 14 of a lath grid for beds.
In the present context, it is disadvantageous, however, that the manufacturing of spring laths of this type is expensive and the assembly of these kinds of lath grids extremely labor-intensive, thereby precluding the feasibility of easy, economical manufacturing.
Therefore, the underling object of the present invention consists in the further development of spring laths that are known in the art with the goal of simplifying their manufacture and assembly in order to make them less expensive.